These easy and delicious fruit leather recipes are some of the best I've tried.Homemade fruit roll-ups are one of my absolute favorite ways to use up any almost-over-ripe fruit you might have on hand!
As harvest time starts drawing to a close, and with it, food preservation season - I find myself running short on both canning jars and freezer space. So I'm relying more and more heavily on my dehydrator lately, for putting away everything we possibly can for winter.
We've made about a gazillion dried apple rings, oodles of dried peach halves, and tray after tray of dried tomatoes. But it hit me the other day that I have one of those handy fruit leather trays for my dehydrator - and I really aught to be making more use of it.
Dried fruit is great, but especially if you're a toddler, fruit leather is where it's at!
So I started looking up fruit leather recipes, and I got drawn in. Holy cow, there are some great recipes out there! As my "Must Try" list grew, I knew I couldn't keep these to myself.
From perfectly simple classics like strawberry and raspberry, to wowie-kazowie flavor combinations like blackberry-mint-lime and pear-guava, these fruit leather recipes are the cream of the crop.
Check these out...
Strawberry
It's tough to imagine a more perfect way to preserve the flavor of strawberries at the peak of their sun-ripened sweetness, than this easy recipe from Monique, over at Divas Can Cook. Just looking at this picture kind of makes me wish it were June again!
Peach
This is the recipe I have going in my dehydrator right now, and my house smells like sweet heaven! These peach leather strips have really become one of my favorite ways to enjoy a huge peach harvest!
Apple
Katja, over at Savory Lotus, has FIVE glorious variations of apple leather, and I'm on a mission to try them all. The apple spice is wonderful, but I think I might be most excited about the apple lavender!
Plum
We grew up with an enthusiastically-productive plum tree in the backyard, and somehow never quite knew what to do with ALL that fruit. This year I'm hoping that dear old tree will bear well enough for me to steal a big basketful from my parents, so I can make up a batch of this beautiful, antioxidant-rich fruit leather!
Pear
I've been incredibly fortunate the last couple of years to be gifted some pears, and this fruit leather is one of my favorite things to do with them! Even if you don't have pears, you need to click through and check out Carlene's blog anyway, because...those food pictures!
Tangerine Mango
Aside from the amazing flavor combination, one cool thing about this recipe is that tangerines and mangoes seem to consistently go on sale at the same time, in our grocery store anyway. I can't possibly not make a batch of this, next time that happens!
Raspberry
Our raspberry bushes are just this year starting to come into their own, so I know that next year we should have a hearty crop. I can't wait to use this recipe as a way of putting up some of that wonderful harvest!
Blackberry Mint Lime
I think I can honestly say that I never would have thought of this combination, but you guys - it's amazing. Just. Amazing. I've tried it, and I love it. Put this one on your absolutely MUST-TRY list!
Persimmon
In college, I had a friend from California who's mom would ship her out a box of persimmons every year. That was my first introduction to this wonderful fruit, which has a totally different flavor profile than anything I'd encountered before. Living in small-town Maine, I may have to drive to a bigger city to find a market that carries persimmons, so I can make this - but I have a feeling it would be more than worth the effort!
Wild Blueberry
Just look at the dark, midnight-blue of that wild blueberry fruit leather! So full of antioxidents, and powerfully-beneficial phytochemicals... wild blueberries are nutrition rockstars. They're also one of our family's absolute favorite foods, so this recipe is a winner all around!
Strawberry Nectarine
Here's another combination I may never have thought of - but I can't wait to try! I MAY have to break down and get some frozen strawberries to try this, since they're out of season now, and I'm just not sure I can wait until next year!
Papaya
Here's the cool thing about this special recipe - the papaya actually gets fermented, which makes it even more nutritionally beneficial. Did you know that fermented papaya has been shown to help combat radiation-induced biological damage? True story. Click through to the recipe to read more - it's absolutely fascinating!
Pear & Guava
Guava is one of those fruits that's not always available here in Maine, but when it is, it's a fun and exotic treat. I'm keeping my eyes peeled to snap up a few, the next time they grace our grocer's shelves, so we can try this!
Raspberry & Gooseberry
Doesn't this sound like an amazing combination? While gooseberries can be hard to come by in some parts of the country, because the bushes harbor white pine blister rust and are extremely restricted, it's usually possible to find them either frozen or canned. Not the same as fresh, I know - but certainly worth a try for those of us in restricted states!
Grape
Here's another recipe that just leaves me thinking, "I can't believe I never thought of that!" With all the grapes we get from my parents' vines every fall, I've somehow never imagined making fruit leather with them. It's definitely on the agenda this year!
Cranberry
The kids and I love cranberries so much, we can happily sit and snack on them raw. You can imagine how we feel about them, when they're made up into this tasty fruit leather! It's HEAVENLY. Cranberries are in season right now, so I'm excited to get a big batch of this going!
Cherry
Tart cherries are another one of those foods that are just SO full of health benefits. From acting as a natural pain killer, to making it easier to sleep, to reducing inflammation - they're pretty amazing. It will be a few years until we have cherry trees big enough to yield much of a harvest, but I'm dreaming of a day in the future when we'll have tart cherries coming out our ears, and be putting away tons of this wonderful fruit leather!
That' my list of what I think are some of the absolute best fruit leather recipes out there! Now that you've seen all these amazing fruit leather ideas, I'm curious...do you have a favorite? Which one makes you want to just get out your dehydrator, and get a batch started right now?
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Anna Chesley
Anna Chesley is a freelance writer living a homestead lifestyle, with a special love for family travel, old books, vintage skills, and seaside living. In addition to founding Salt In My Coffee, she runs the website, New England Family Life, as well as The 1800's Housewife, a website devoted to re-creating authentic 1800's recipes.
Crystal says
These look wonderful. Can you recommend a dehydrator?
Katja says
Every single one of these looks so good. Thanks for including me. YUM!